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Tracking Tesla's Quiet Changes To the Model S
cartechboy (2660665) writes "Tesla won't reveal its production figures every quarter, but it has now likely built about 50,000 all-electric Model S luxury sport sedans. Unlike other automakers, Tesla doesn't group its changes to a model year, rather it makes running changes to cars whenever updates are tested, validated, and ready to roll out. Which raises the question, are model year 2012 Model S sedans already outdated? The answer is it depends how you look at it. From a powertrain perspective, no. There are still two battery-size options and the shape is still the same. But under the surface of the car there are a surprising number of updates and new options. Not including software changes (of which there are dozens already pushed to the car), changes range from power folding mirrors and a new cold-weather package (which cannot be retrofitted) to a new ultra-high-fidelity sound package and three-zone, three-mode rear seat heaters. It's worth noting that none of these are mandatory changes — there are merely options that have been added to the roster of available equipment."
Not so. Different manufactorers have different approaches - PSA for example have always had a "continual change" process so that what's available not is slightly different to 3 months ago, and slightly more different to 6 months ago, independantly of "new model facelifts".
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I had actually ordered a Tesla, but cancelled it largely due to their: "ultra-high-fidelity sound package." The $2500 ultra-high-fidelity sound package" is the exact same package as the original $500 "sound studio" package. The only difference is the price hike and they now list the subwoofer as speaker 12 vs. they used to only list 11 speakers -- everything else is the same which my dealer admitted to me as did the stick on a previous model car sitting in the shop area. If you want a citation, see: http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/new-sound-system .
When I began investigating the updates that Tesla had been rolling out, it untangled a lovely mess of what amounted to nothing more than price hikes. The sound system was the most obvious, but the "leather" package is another. It's now split into multiple packages at 3X the price vs. the former single package that included everything.
Tesla's upgrade system makes it very difficulty to sort out, and I found the practice highly deceptive. The final straw was when I went to pick up my car. They showed me my car at just under $90,000, and then a demo car that had just been delivered that was under the old pricing with substantially more features on it than the car I had ordered. At a $2,000 difference, it was a no-brainer. They went to do the paperwork and told me that couldn't sell it under the previous pricing (aka. before the packages had been split up, sound system jacked to $2500, etc.), but could sell it to me for $108,000.
I walked out. They're welcome to make money, but their system is confusing and I believe designed to hide their price gouging. I found the practice to be worthy of a traditional car dealership, and not something I wanted to participate in.
Oh well, I'm sure they sold both cars to someone else.
Upon reading this article I miss:
- More information on which are those options.
- Whether there are packages that already include these options.
- A comprehensive "where to buy" list. Ideally, with a price reference.
- Financing offers. In case I can't buy it today but want to add it to my mortgage.
- More pictures. For reference, the traditional "Shiny car with bikini models." can suffice.
- A video where a pro pilot drives the car while describing why it is the best feeling he's ever had since he won the world cup, or something.
And, finally, a big yellow "ADD TO CART" button.
Optionally, there could also be a "Direct CHECKOUT" button that charges the cost to my google wallet and gets me the car by the time I get home from work.
I wonder what this will do for the long-term viability of the car though...in regards to repairing it. If I have a 1998 Honda civic DX I know I can find parts for the windshield wiper assembly.
If I have a model 1.5.14b (mod alpha) Tesla S with options XYZ ... do I need this wingding or that one for the rear-view mirror? Repair shops are going to hate this game.
At the same time...knowing the battery, motor, and other major components are the same is a huge win for the same question. Frankly the car industry revamping cars every freaking year is beyond stupid. Why is a 3000 pound, immensely complex, expensive piece of machinery rebuilt every year? To tweak a fender and include the radio buttons it should have had last year?
As usual...go Tesla. I just hope they have a good compatibility matrix for the upgraded components.
You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
One of the reasons I was one of the first to buy a Tesla is because I love the fact that Elon Musk refused to abide by all of the known "rules" of automotive manufacturing. I love it that I get regular updates to the car's firmware/software that actually adds features to the vehicle (one of the first ones I got actually made my 0-60 time faster!).
But I think that when it comes to this idea of not following the established rule of "model years", it doesn't work very well. The modern-day method of rolling software updates is great--for software. But when it comes to hardware, it is a bit more difficult. It's made even worse when things are not retrofittable (like the rear seat heating referenced here).
I understand that the company has a great new hardware feature and wants to get it onto the assembly line as quickly as possible, and you have to applaud that. But you end up with people ordering a car and not knowing what they will get. Some improvements are announced at or around the time they hit the assembly line, and many cars without the improvement are then delivered for a period of time. Note that although the summary only references "options", there are many more improvements other than options that are added in an add-hoc manner.
We haven't even seen the confusion this will eventually cause when there is a substantial resale market for the Model S. There will be no "shorthand" to say what features the vehicle has or doesn't have. Even the Roadster had "version numbers".